Mail box



Dec. 3% 1924.

N. MURPHY MAIL BOX Filed March 20, 1922 lliiillllllllllllllllllllllllllll l l l l I I I I l I l W MM Patented Dec. 30, 1924-.

WILLIAM N. MURPHY, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR- 9F (ENE-HALF TO HOMER-ID.

MARTIN, OF DETROIT, MECHIGAN.

IHAIL BOX.

Application filedlt'l'arch 26,1922. Serial 16o. 5%,031.

1 10 all who nit. may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM. N. MU PHY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county. of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Mail Boxes, of which the following is a specifica tion, reference being bad therein to the ac companying drawings.

This invention relates to mail boxes of that class intended for residences, apartment houses, and individual use where such boxes are more or less protected, although my mail box may be used out doors or for street purposes.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a mail box having transparent walls so that the receiver or collector of mail may readily ascertain if the box contains mail matter, without opening the box, thereby saving considerable time and labor.

Another object of my invention is to provide a. mail box having its front, side and top walls made integral and in the form of a transparent casing which may be easily and quickly mounted on a metallic wall or support having a lid which permits of easy access being had to the interior of the mail box.

A further object of this invention is to provide a strong, durable and inexpensive mail box that may be easily and quickly attached to a suitable support with the attaching means enclosed so that the box cannot be bodily or conveniently removed.

The above are a few of the objects obtained by the mail box that will now be described in detail, but reference will first be had to the drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation of the mail box;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the mail box;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the rear wall and hinged drop lid of the mail box, and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of the mail box.

In the drawing the reference numeral 1 denotes a rear wall preferably made of metal and provided with openings 2 to receive screws or other fastening means by which the wall 1 may be attached to a suitable support. The wall 1 is oblong in elevation with. its upper edgecurved and provided with an overhanging flange 3, and the longitudinal. edges of the wall having channel guides 4; with the lower ends thereof provided with malleable lugs 5 adapted to be inbent.

Mounted on the wall 1 is a casing preferably made of glass or other transparent material, said casing comprising a front wall 6 integral with side walls 7 and a top wall 8, the walls 7 and S tapering outwardly from the rounded edges of the wall 6. The upper edge of the wall 8 is adapted to engage under the flange 3 and the rear edges of the walls 7 have longitudinal flanges 9 adapted to fit in the channel guides i; the casing being bodily shifted. into engagement with the wall 1 from the lower edge thereof, and with the flange 3 overhanging the wall 8 it is practically impossible for water or other liquid to enter the casing from the upper end thereof.

The casing wall 6, adjacent the upper end thereof, has a transverse enlargement 10 provided with a longitudinal slot 11, and it is through this slot that mail matter is deposited in the box. Adjacent the lower end. of the casing wall 6 is an integral apertured and vertically disposed ear 12.

The lower edge of the metallic rear wall. 1 is formed with barrels 13 for a pintle or rod 14 pivotally supporting barrels 15 of a drop lid 16 said lid closing the lower end of the box casing and having a hasp 17 fitting over the apertured ear 12 with the hasp provided with the finger piece 18 so that the lid may be easily opened away from the lower end of the box casing. The lid is held normally closed by the expansive u force of a coiled spring 19 on the pintle 14 between the lid barrels 15, said spring having one end convolution thereof engaging the wall 1 and the opposite end convolution thereof engaging under the lid 16, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The lid 16 is preferably made of metal and may be secured in closed position by the shackle 20 of a padlock 21 placed in engagement with the apertured ear 12.

Suitably connected to the rear wall 1, intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof, is a fixed horizontally disposed wire bail or holder that may cooperate with the front wall 6 in holding such mail matter,

(iii

as newspapers, that cannot be conveniently placed in the slot 11 of the mail box.

By reference to Figs. 4- and 5, it will be noted that the channel guides i are of less length than the side edges of the Wall 1 and this is in order that there will be sufiicient clearance for the upper edge of the box casing when being placed in engagement with the wall 1, consequently the barrels 13 will not interfere with sliding of a box casing on to the rear wall, although in some instances the barrels 13 may be formed rearwardly of the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4:.

Since the box casing is made of glass or other molten or plastic material it may be shaped and embossed to aliord desired ornamentation and indicia, and while in the drawing there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the structural elements are susceptible to such variations and modifications as'fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: 1. A mall box comprislng a rear wall havlng screw-receivlng openings and side channel guides, a casing mounted on said rear wall and having flanges extending under said guides said casing having a front wall slot opposite the rear wall openings so that said mail box may be conveniently attached to a support after said casing is mounted on said rear wall, said casing being mounted on said rear wall by endwise movement of said casing, and means at the lower ends of the guides of said rear wall adapted to retain said casing flanges in said guides.

2. A mail box as called for in claim 1, wherein said rear wall has a top flange to limit the endwise movement of said casing when being placed on said rear wall, and lugs at the lower ends of said channel guides adapted to be bent inwardly to hold said casing in engagement with said rear wall.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM N. MURPHY.

Witnesses:

G. E. MCGRANN, KARL H. BUTLER. 

